We're Done Here
by vanillasyrup
Summary: The partially untold story of the transition from a Cave Johnson dominated Aperture Laboratories to a computer gone awol controlling every aspect of the facility. Caroline slowly adjusts to her new life as an AI, losing a little more than just her emotion in the process.


I found this as a one-shot I wrote a while back when the game had first come out. Reading back through I decided that rewriting a little bit wouldn't hurt, and here we are now. Your opinions'll keep ne going, so please R+R! Enjoy!

We're Done Here – Chapter 1

"If we can store music on a compact disk, why can't we store a man's personality on one? So I have the engineers figuring that one out now. Brain mapping. Artificial intelligence. We should have been working on it thirty years ago. I will say this, and I'm gonna say it on tape so everybody hears it a hundred times a day. If I die before you people can pour me into a computer, I want Caroline to run this place. Now she'll argue, she'll say she can't. She's modest like that. But you make her!"

Cave clicked the recorder off, pulled out the tape, and then slowly shuffled his way across the office to the tape player. His body shrieked with pain with his every move as moon dust shifted around every fiber of his being; the painkillers haven't settled in he supposed. Strange. They should have by now. He placed in the tape, closed the top, and just hesitated before hitting the play button. Maybe he should give a visit to the engineers before stating what they're doing. He may have been dying, but he wasn't going to kick the bucket any time soon, he's Cave Johnson! The ephemeral thought left as he scribbled down a note for Caroline to press play when she returned. This was something he just couldn't risk.

Cave rolled through the facility as fast as his drugged-up arms could take him, taking the longer route as he still refused to install any wheelchair ramps and wider walkways. If he could make it to the breaker room, the computer, and then back to his office in one piece, then no one was allowed to complain, not while Cave Johnson was still breathing. And even then, no one was allowed to complain. A frown furled its way across his face after he finished that thought. Hopefully Caroline will stand strong and keep the facility the same, he knew how much some of the scientists she works with complain to her… and she's been taking it well considering that Cave found out about it while casually eavesdropping one day years ago.

He was surprised to find the recording had still not gone off by the time he arrived in the engineering department. He stood up from his wheelchair and opened the door to the main breaker room. Several people turned around, noticing his sudden presence.

"Mr. Johnson!"

"What're you doing over here?"

"Fire her up!" Cave commanded. Shock rolled over some of their faces.

"Now? But she's still just a computer right now—"

"I said fire her up! I've got a few words I want to say to her!"

Slowly but unsurely, people turned over to the controls to turn the computer on. Cave turned around, sitting in his wheelchair before wheeling himself further down the hallway to turn entering the bridge. It smelled of new construction and a little bit of metallic dust. The door at the other end opened, and just as Cave started to roll over it, a bump sent him flying out of his chair. The impact sent his body through another episode with the moon dust, the pain dying away as quick as it had set in. He cringed for a second before forcing himself back onto his feet and walking forward to the hanging computer in the center of the room. Lights slowly blinked on one by one, fans started whirring, and right before Cave made it to the base of her staircase the little yellow eye blinked on.

"Caroline…" He started. "I don't know if you'll hear me or not, but it's worth the shot anyway."

He stepped closer. "You have control over the entire facility as of right now. You can see everything at once, whether it be the scientists doing their jobs or even the testing. You can see every test that is going on all at the same time if you wanted to." He chuckled a little. "That's a lot of science. But that's not the point. I understand that you may be mad at me for doing this, or sad that this has happened, but I… we know our fates. I knew from the day that I promoted you to be my assistant that I wanted you to take over the facility for me, but you're just as finite as I am. I see you're starting to slow down just as I am." He paused for a moment to cough. "They're looking to pour me into the computer first, but I don't think that can happen anymore. Don't think that I'm diverting all of this to you, I'm not. If I could take your place, I would. If some strange turn of events allows me to go in, then I will. That's why I'm leaving this message for you, a piece of paper isn't enough. I'm sorry it had to be this way, Caroline."

He reached out to her optic with both hands and pulled it into his shoulder, embracing it as tightly as he could. He then kissed it lightly right above the yellow light, letting it slide back into its place after letting it go.

"My statement thirty years ago is finally true; you are now married to science."

Cave turned around and began walking back to his wheelchair. After a few seconds, he collapsed.

A door opened to Cave's office.

"I've got your coffee, Mr. Johns-"

Caroline stepped in holding a clipboard and a mug. She placed it down on his desk before noticing a note over by the tape player. After reading, she hit the play button, and dropped her clipboard. This can't be happening.

"I'm…" she took a few steps back.

"I'm going to live forever."


End file.
